Cloud-based computing has enjoyed significant deployment in corporate, commercial, and other application spaces. In general, a cloud-based architecture deploys a set of hosted resources such as processors, operating systems, software and other components that can be combined or strung together to form virtual machines. A user or customer can request the instantiation of a virtual machine or set of machines from those resources from a central server or management system to perform intended tasks or applications For example, a user may wish to set up and instantiate a virtual server from the cloud to create a storefront to market products or services on a temporary basis. The user can lease or subscribe to the set of resources needed to build and run the set of instantiated virtual machines on a comparatively short-term basis, such as hours or days, for their intended application. The advent of cloud-based computing architectures has opened new possibilities for the rapid and scalable deployment of virtual Web stores, media outlets, and other online sites or services.
In some deployments, the operator of the cloud network may choose to offer the cloud users the option of a service level agreement (SLA). Under a SLA, the operator of the cloud network can provide the user with a set of different levels of guaranteed service or resources, such as different amounts, grades or levels of bandwidth, processing power, resource up-time, or other resources or services. In implementations, the different levels of resource or service commitment can be associated with different subscription fees, or other terms or conditions that depend on the quantity or nature of delivered service or support.
In the context of a set of SLAs that are implemented in a cloud environment, issues in the configuration and deployment of the delivered services can arise. One significant issue is that the delivery of service under a SLA to a user can be compromised by a failure of hardware, software, or other resources used to support a given level of service. In the event of a service failure or downgrade, the operator of the cloud network may have difficulty in resolving the failure and may be forced, for example, to rebuild a new cloud or constituent set of virtual machines to resume service.
It may be desirable to provide methods and systems for service level backup using a re-cloud network, in which cloud-based service level agreements can be ensured or backed up with second-level cloud networks to create readily available failover resources.